The definition of greed is "an extreme or excessive desire for resources, especially for property such as money, real estate, or other symbols of wealth." Everybody needs a degree of wealth to live, (a need for food, electricity, house, etc.) but we always go past what we need into what we want. Need a phone? How about the new iPhone that came out? Need a car? How about the sleek and sporty Porsche 911? Greed is in our nature, and we can't escape it. 

 

"With the new high-demand products, such as spices, tea and silk, made available by world exploration, trade and exploitation of markets became the goals of European societies and individuals in those societies. This continues to this day. The standard of living for the members of societies practicing such materialism gives them a major advantage over those people and societies that don't. They can gather more resources, live longer, raise more children in better conditions that can pass on their parents' and ancestors' genes, and generally outstrip any competition that doesn't practice greed." (The Sociological Basis of Greed).  This desire for wealth has come from Western-European tradition which teaches growth and expansion of wealth. People care about expanding their own property or building up their own legacy, so they don't care about others. Greed is kind of like a survival instinct. People fight for the bigger piece of pie all the time. In a sense, greed can be good for us, because without it we don't have much motivation, but too much is harmful to the society and to ourselves.